2024-25 PWHL season

Maybe at this point teams wait until after the draft and then try to fill in the roster with remaining free agents?

Ditra said:

Maybe at this point teams wait until after the draft and then try to fill in the roster with remaining free agents?

Click to expand...

As someone who admittedly follows DIII more than DI day to day when it comes to NCAA, I'd love to hear everyone's thoughts about the players making the jump from D1 to the draft in terms of who among them are ready to beat out the free agents above for roles...

Scott_TG said:

As someone who admittedly follows DIII more than DI day to day when it comes to NCAA, I'd love to hear everyone's thoughts about the players making the jump from D1 to the draft in terms of who among them are ready to beat out the free agents above for roles...

Click to expand...

Though I also didn't follow NCAA D1 this past season as much as a couple years ago, I do have some thoughts.

I think that there are certain players from college that the teams will be excited to sign ahead of most of the remaining free agents. Many of them have national team experience - as marked on this entry draft list with an asterisk - and they usually are at one of the top-10-or-so in the Pairwise, though some are at lower-ranked schools.
Sorted by position in alphabetic order:
G: Sanni Ahola (St. Cloud State), possibly Kaley Doyle (Quinnipiac) or Hannah Murphy (Colgate)
D: Nicole Gosling (Clarkson), Rory Guilday (Cornell), Nina Jobst-Smith (UMD), Haley Winn (Clarkson)
F: Jenna Buglioni (OSU), Kristýna Kaltounková (Colgate), Ella Huber (Minnesota), Casey O'Brien (Wisconsin), Clara Van Wieren (UMD), Makenna Webster (OSU), Kiara Zanon (OSU) - maybe Peyton Hemp (Minnesota)?

A few players who I feel a bit surprised haven't been extended or signed to another team yet:
G: Logan Angers (OTT), Klára Peslarová (BOS); maybe fan favorite Carly Jackson (TOR)?
D: Zoe Boyd (OTT), Jessica DiGirolamo (BOS), Maggie Flaherty (MIN), Kali Flanagan (TOR)
F: Jade Downie-Landry (NY), Catherine Dubois (MTL), Mikyla Grant-Mentis (MTL), Amanda Pelkey (BOS)
It would be great for NY to sign one or more of these goaltenders given Schroeder being taken by Seattle. It seems plausible that these players would be preferred to some of the draftees based on their experience - excepting the top 2 forwards and D, for example, who I think are O'Brien and Kaltouková and, on D, Winn and Gosling.

Ottawa has now made some signings, extending Rebecca Leslie (2 years) and Taylor House (1 year).

There are also players who have not been playing, of course, in the draft as well as players playing in Europe. I think that forward Michelle Karvinen is well-heralded.

Active roster spots currently remaining, per The Ice Garden's tracker:
Boston - 11
Minnesota - 13
Montréal - 12
New York - 11
Ottawa - 14
Seattle - 9
Toronto - 9
Vancouver - 8
That is 87 active roster spots up for grabs. There will be 48 drafted players, and there are currently 46 free agents; 94 players (edited - not 92) for 87 spots. Players who have entered the draft can also, of course, sign even if not drafted. Teams also have reserve lists, but generally those players are signed to those lists without being drafted. Perhaps, ~3 or 4 more players could retire in this offseason; as Ditra mentioned, Victoria Bach has now retired. Players who haven't had as much production as earlier in their careers, but who I don't feel would be too close to retiring yet, are Jillian Dempsey, Loren Gabel, and Amanda Pelkey (BOS forwards). Looks like Boston has made a point so far to sign some up-and-coming and/or moderately established forwards this year. (And will be looking for a new coach, per the coaching-change news from eastcoastgopher, with Courtney Kessel to Princeton.)

So, we may see almost all the drafted players sign this season and half-a-dozen free agents not end up with roster spots. And then probably another half-dozen players who entered the draft would be in the mix to compete for reserve spots (a lower-paying gig) at camps.

BowWowWow said:

So, we may see almost all the drafted players sign this season and half-a-dozen free agents not end up with roster spots. And then probably another half-dozen players who entered the draft would be in the mix to compete for reserve spots (a lower-paying gig) at camps.

Click to expand...

Part of it also has to be managing to salary cap based on who the team has already signed. So it might mean signing a newly drafted player at lower salary over player who played in the league last year just because of the cap. Feels like quality of play doesn't necessarily improve under this scenario year over year.

Ditra said:

Part of it also has to be managing to salary cap based on who the team has already signed. So it might mean signing a newly drafted player at lower salary over player who played in the league last year just because of the cap. Feels like quality of play doesn't necessarily improve under this scenario year over year.

Click to expand...

True - the fact that the teams need some players on minimum contracts goes to the advantage of the rookies, and the disadvantage of veterans.

Given the jobs that the league is adding with its expansion, though, it feels as though fewer players will retire than "usual" in the past. So, the veterans can still help impart what they know to the younger players, perhaps, and the quality of play is maintained or improves?

Among developments today, Élizabeth Giguère has now gone to OTT, and defender Catherine Dubois has extended with MTL.

I've taken some of my day off on Juneteenth to play with a "mock" entry draft for Tuesday. The sources consulted for more info are The Ice Garden, The Victory Press, Draft Prospects Hockey's preview, and Elite Prospects' user-uploaded list. Because the latter two lists pre-date the declaration deadline, some adjustments had to be made; further, some players have signed in Europe (especially the SDHL) since declaring for the draft.

This is the "mock" entry draft I came up with:
1. NYC Kristýna Kaltounková, F, Colgate - Vlasim, CZE
2. BOS Haley Winn, D, Clarkson - Rochester, NY
3. TOR Nicole Gosling, D, Clarkson - London, ON
4. MTL Casey O'Brien, F, Wisconsin - Milton, MA
5. OTT Rory Guilday, D, Cornell - Chanhassen, MN
6. MIN Ella Huber, F, Minnesota - Northfield, IL
7. VAN Jenna Buglioni, F, OSU - Port Moody, BC
8. SEA Makenna Webster, F, Wisconsin/OSU - St. Louis, MO

9. NYC Clara Van Wieren, F, UMD - Okemos, MI
10. BOS Kendall Cooper, D, Quinnipiac - Oakville, ON
11. TOR Michelle Karvinen, F, Frölunda (SDHL) - Rødovre, DEN
12. MTL Natálie Mlýnková, F, Vermont/Minnesota - Zlin, CZE
13. OTT Kiara Zanon, F, Penn State/OSU - Fairport, NY
14. MIN Olivia Wallin, F, Penn State/UMD - Oakville, ON
15. SEA Anne Cherkowski, F, Minnesota/Clarkson - Coldstream, BC
16. VAN Abby Hustler, F, St. Lawrence - St. Louis, PE

17. NYC Hannah Murphy, G, Colgate - Kingston, ON
18. BOS Riley Brengman, D, OSU - China Township, MI
19. TOR Nina Jobst-Smith, D, UMD - North Vancouver, BC
20. MTL Chayla Edwards, D, Wisconsin - Cleveland Heights, OH
21. OTT Sanni Ahola, G, St. Cloud State - Helsinki, FIN
22. MIN Vita Poniatovskaia, D, Yale - Chelyabinsk, RUS
23. VAN Sara Hjalmarsson, F, Linköping (SDHL) - Bankeryd, SWE
24. SEA Skylar Irving, F, Northeastern - Kingston, MA

25. NYC Peyton Hemp, F, Minnesota - Andover, MN
26. BOS Abby Newhook, F, Boston College - St. John's, NL
27. TOR Sarah Wozniewicz, F, Wisconsin - Cochrane, AB
28. MTL Léonie Philbert, D, Concordia (U Sports) - St-Bruno-de-Montarville, QC
29. OTT Madison Samoskevich, D, Quinnipiac - Sandy Hook, CT
30. MIN Dayle Ross, D, St. Cloud State - Spirit River, AB
31. SEA Lily Delianedis, F, Cornell - Edina, MN
32. VAN Reece Hunt, F, Luleå (SDHL) - Nelson, BC

33. NYC Maddi Wheeler, F, Wisconsin/OSU - Erinsville, ON
34. BOS Morgan Neitzke, F, Lindenwood - Jackson, MI
35. TOR Hanna Baskin, D, UMD - Minnetonka, MN
36. MTL Maya Labad, F, Quinnipiac - Mascouche, QC
37. OTT Vanessa Upson, F, Mercyhurst - Stoney Creek, ON
38. MIN Emma Gentry, F, St. Cloud State - Alpena, MI
39. VAN Kaley Doyle, G, Brown/Quinnipiac - Livonia, MI
40. SEA Megan Warrener, G, UConn - Stoney Creek, ON

41. NYC Sara Boucher, F, Mercyhurst/New Hampshire - Burlington, ON
42. BOS Lyndie Lobdell, D, Penn State - Aurora, IL
43. TOR Claire Vekich, F, MSU Mankato - Coleraine, MN
44. MTL Olivia Mobley, F, Quinnipiac/UMD - St. Louis Park, MN
45. OTT Lily Yovetich, D, Northeastern - Ottawa, ON
46. MIN Charli Kettyle, D, New Hampshire/Syracuse - Perth, ON
47. SEA Ava Rinker, D, UConn - Elverson, PA
48. VAN Olivia Muhn, D, Yale - Burlington, ON

Toronto, Vancouver, and Seattle have more players rostered than the other teams, and VAN and SEA seemed pretty set in terms of defense. I put VAN taking the BC native Jenna Buglioni in the first round. NYC also seemed pretty set for defense already but needs a goaltender who could be a reliable backup or challenge for starter; Hannah Murphy was Kayle Osborne's teammate at Colgate and was coached by Greg Fargo. Seattle and Vancouver alternate each round, per thepwhl.com.

I was surprised to see other observers ranking Kaltounková above O'Brien for the draft - but they seem to refer, when explicit about it, to her physicality. Sometimes the American teams seem to prefer picking American players, the Canadian teams Canadians, and that's part of why I had Boston picking Winn ahead of N. Gosling.

In the previous drafts, a player or two picked from the Russian league have not ended up playing in the PWHL. And Amanda Kessel, coming out of retirement, chose not to play in MTL. So, it feels like teams will be more averse to that type of risky pick this year.

Seattle hired Steve O’Rourke to coach their team.

Thoughts. Well you know me, of course I like to see deserving women or guys who have invested in women’s hockey get the jobs and this guy is not that. People say he’s a good guy. So that’s that.

He has a junior hockey background and that may be a bit of pipeline for these jobs. The best NCAA jobs pay better, and the ones that don’t pay better probably have stability that the PW shouldn’t have in a true pro environment.

Something to think about for women who want to coach in the PW though. What is your path going to be? Ohio States hire of junior assistant Nadine Muzerall will always be an example of the success you can have hiring on potential (although she won a bunch as asst), but how often do big hires/big opportunities get doled out like that? Maybe a great coaching path is what Courtney Kessel just showed us… ncaa asst to Pw head coach to ncaa head coach.

O’Rourke really doesn’t have a lot of head coaching experience, no back to back to tenures at the same team as HC. Fired a few months into his Oshawa hc role (not sure why, I believe the team was winning but had bad special teams). No mention of him winning anything in an assistant coach or head coach capacity. In this regard he is different from Wrobo when Wrobo took over team USA women. Wrobo coached the best male US prospects, and won some IIHF gold with them, this guy coached in the BCHL. Both are guys who coached in developmental leagues. Even if I’m not looking at this through my girl power lens it feels like a bit of a weak hire.

The challenges for O’Rourke will be:
1- earn the backing of Hilary Knight. She is the team leader. My guess is she was consulted before he was hired, or there was general coaching discussions before she signed. Not unusual for stars. If he has her support that will go a long way in leading the team. You do wonder if Dave flint was supposed to be the guy and that fell through,

2- O’Rourke needs someone someone asap who can complement knights scoring ability. She doesn’t have a lot of years left, and just had another surgery. They have to be in win now mode immediately; what that even means in this young league as far as contracts I’m not sure. I’m sure knights contract is a big one and certainly Barnes should be too. Carpenter presumably has a big contract, believe it’s one year, like Knights. Those three aren’t going to be enough though. Carpenter has also shown she’s susceptible to injury.

3-He needs to get more out of Serdachny and Gosling who had 8 and 10 points in thirty games last year. Bilka had 11 in 16 before getting hurt. I think the performance of these three and particularly showing an ability to develop Serdachny and Gosling will be a big test for O’Rourke not to mention impact the success of the team.

These 6 or at least 5 will all have Olympics on their mind too. Lots going on.

Not specifically hockey wise but it’s a
interesting to see what men do when they get these opportunities in women’s sport. When Ottawa GM Mike Hirschfeld was the executive director of the nhl coaches association he facilitated lots of mentoring of female coaches, and I believe getting women coaches at nhl camps in development opportunities sort of came out of that. When he got his Ottawa gig he continued to walk the walk with his hiring.

People have different levels of self awareness and giving a care on these issues, as well as different skill sets. The best thing for him to do is coach his butt off, lead effectively and respectively and help the team win. That is of course a top way to show respect to the women’s game.

He can’t make token hires; but at the same time there really shouldn’t be a need to make token hires if the assistant job pays right and the person hiring does research. He should be able to get some kick ass women in his staff. I’m trying to open minded about the head coach hire and also give an honest reaction, and I’m curious to see how the on ice coaching goes as well as the staff build out. He’s got some OHA experience, I wouldn’t be surprised if he hires someone with experience from there.

Brianna Decker seems like a pretty strong candidate for a pw asst coach role, if she’s interested

Wonder if there ever was a conversation with Jessica Campbell?

Lindsay said:

Brianna Decker seems like a pretty strong candidate for a pw asst coach role, if she’s interested

Click to expand...

Brianna Decker coaching Hilary Knight is a funny thought. Knight was a junior, away at the Olympics, when Decker was a freshman in 2010.

robertearle said:

Brianna Decker coaching Hilary Knight is a funny thought. Knight was a junior, away at the Olympics, when Decker was a freshman in 2010.

Click to expand...

Ha, yea that’s just cause knighter is sort of old though and Decker retired too early due to bad luck.

I know the fellow she mentors under at Shattuck is a dear role model for Decker but her skill set surely suits an assistant role in the Pw or at least a true head coach role for a top high school team at this point.

If 33 year old Jeremy cotillon can head coach a $2 billion dollar nhl team, including an old teammate, I think Knight can handle Decker coaching her. One her best lineys, let’s go.